Jacks and other lifting type devices are commonly used to facilitate access to the underside of vehicles or such objects for repairs, maintenance, and emergencies. When an automobile, truck or other motor vehicle is involved in an accident, there are occasions when the vehicle comes to rest on its side or its roof, for example, on a person, or against an object, such as a tree, utility pole or another vehicle. Emergency responders, including firefighters and first responders, understand the plethora of difficulties involved in rescuing individuals trapped under vehicles and other heavy objects, such as fallen trees, walls, and poles. In such situations, the vehicles or other heavy object must be stabilized and lifted to allow rescue personnel to remove the driver and passengers, and any victim trapped beneath the vehicle. Moreover, in order to prevent further injury to the occupants of the vehicle or rescue personnel, or further damage to the vehicle itself, the vehicle usually must be stabilized and lifted in the position at which it has come to rest.
Jacks and other such lifting devices, while simple, inexpensive, and relatively portable, place the emergency rescuer, firefighter, police and law enforcement personnel, or any other type of individual in a crowded, inconvenient, and frequently dangerous position. Existing jacks and other such lifting devices, have a variety of downfalls. For example, many jacks only have a single contact and load point structure. Depending on a variety of factors, the single contact point structure and the single load point structure may put the vehicle in an unstable and unsafe position when lifted. There may be inadvertent slippage of the vehicle or the jack. Further, the undercarriage of many vehicles is close to the ground, and consequently, even with crawlers, jacks, and ramps, access is inconvenient and somewhat difficult, forcing one to creep beneath the car in a supine position or to aid someone with injuries. Another problem includes the inconvenience of needing to install or attach lifting devices.
The airbag method is an alternative to using the existing car jacks and lifts. The airbag method is often used by the rescue community when lifting a vehicle that has come to rest on top of a pedestrian, vehicle passenger, or bicycle rider. The airbag method involves a number of steps that require multiple people and pieces of equipment that must be prepared beneath a vehicle or other object before the air bags are able to effectively raise the vehicle or other object high enough off of the ground to allow clearance to rescue any individuals trapped beneath the vehicle or other object. The air bag lift method requires using multiple specialty air bags, whereby a first air bag is inflated individually with air and then another airbag may be placed over the first and inflated.
A disadvantage of the air bag method is that multiple components and time is needed for implementation. For example, it is estimated that the airbag method requires three highly trained firefighters and first responders at least three to five rescue man minutes (which translates to nine to fifteen rescuer minutes) for transporting of equipment, setup, and connections of the many components. This may then translate to ten to twelve rescuer minutes for an emergency responder to successfully assist and extract a trapped individual. In an emergency rescue operation, time is of the essence and anything that may be done to increase the speed as well as maintain the safety of those involved in an emergency rescue is needed. A further disadvantage of the airbag methods is that two (2) airbags are the limit unless an additional lifting platform and support scribbing are utilized. Further, multiple man minutes are needed to lift an object over 12 inches using the airbags.
Various attempts have been made to provide alternatives to existing methods and techniques of lifting vehicles or other heavy objects. Previously filed patents exists that describe such methods and techniques for lifting vehicles or other heavy objects, however, they do not provide an adequate solution for a quick and convenient response when a vehicle or other object must be lifted as quickly as possible, such as during emergency rescue operations. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,048 describes a method of lifting a vehicle that uses two J-shaped members that are tied together and used to flip rotate a car through more than 90 degrees. However, it is noted that the J-Shaped members described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,048 are large and bulky and must be attached to front and rear wheels. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,048 teaches that the vehicle must first be jacked-up using a body jack. U.S. Pat. No. 4,594,048 is primarily used for maintenance of a vehicle to allow access to both an underside and a top of a vehicle and would not be useful or realistic if used during emergency rescue operations where timely and easy techniques must be used to access an individual in distress beneath a vehicle or other heavy object.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,618,894 describes using a manually operated, wheeled hydraulic lift that is coupled to a beam at one end by a chain. Centered on the beam is a raised assembly that makes contact with a vehicle during lifting, when the manually operated hydraulic lift is activated. U.S. Pat. No. 3,618,894 fails to describe however a mechanism for lifting a vehicle that would be readily available for rescue operations that require quick lifts and portable components that could be easily transported on a fire truck or other vehicle.
Despite the various designs and types of jacks, lifts, or supports that are presently available, there still exist numerous drawbacks and problems that have not been addressed by the presently available options. Therefore, a portable and universal safety lever adapter device would be very useful to a wide spectrum of users, primarily anyone that aids those in emergency situations in various locations.